That afternoon Jake took me to a restaurant inside a VERY TALL building, the Global Financial Center.
Behind us in the Shanghai skyline is the pearl tower.
We sat for about 3 hours enjoying the view and ordering one appetizer after another. The sun started shining in through the windows so brightly that we were those "cool" people wearing their sunglasses inside.
Then on our way home on the subway it was RUSH HOUR! I found it quite funny. Up until this point Shanghai seemed like any other western city, New York City even. Once we hit the subway at rush hour I knew I was in China. The doors to the subway car opened and in a mass movement of people we were pushed as a group into the car until the doors closed. As those doors closed every last person that could be pushed into the car were in. I couldn't move or turn if I wanted to but somehow everyone managed to get on and off when they needed to. It was impressive.
(this girl next to me somehow managed to not skip a beat as we were herded onto the subway car and just kept reading her book)
We decided since we told Teddy's parents we'd be back between 10-11pm that we'd get Jake's hair/face cleaned up. The salons and massage places are open late. Maybe open late for when people are off work?
They got started on Jake and gave me a Pepsi.
Jake wanted a haircut like he had as a adolescent/teen. The hair underneath is shaved and you leave the top long. His brothers all had this hair style and they were able to pull it back in a ponytail on top. His isn't quite to the ponytail stage but he loves it. He loves it so much he had me cut the boys' hair like this when we returned home.
After this we headed and got a couple's massage. The women there were obsessed with telling me how beautiful I was and giggling away. We got a massage in the same room together for 2 hours. Chinese massages are not like those here in the states. They are more chiropractic than relaxing. I felt quite sore afterward, almost like I had been through a grueling workout. It felt good afterward but like Jake said I wasn't sure if it felt good at the end because it ended or because they had done good work. During the massage I had to run potty but made sure and snapped a picture of their "squatty" potty. These are the norm in China. Most however do NOT have toilet paper in the stalls. Instead they have a roll at the door you have to grab from (that is normally empty). I started carrying a roll of toilet paper in my purse. Oh and soap at the sinks, don't expect any. I watched many a Chinese person rinse their hands with water as they left the bathrooms (even with signs over the sinks that I assumed reminded you to "wash" your hands).
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